


Defiant, Grim, Queer - A Ráthi Núve Yénkitso

by portisHeart



Category: Defiance (TV), Grimm (TV), Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: AU, Alien Cultural Differences, Aliens, Anal Sex, Canon Gay Character, Castithan(s), Crossover Pairings, Explicit Language, Friendship/Love, Homophobia, Human(s), Illegal Activities, Indogene, Internal Conflict, Interspecies Relationship(s), Irathient(s), M/M, Male Homosexuality, Male Slash, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Canonical Relationship(s), Multiple Crossovers, OOC, Oral Sex, Prostitution, Rating May Vary Through Chapters, Sexism, Social Issues, Specism, Substance Abuse, Very Long Intro, Violence, Votans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 16:46:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6337192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/portisHeart/pseuds/portisHeart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Kastíthanu, the Castithan language, <i> ráthi núve yénkitso </i> means 'scary badass motherfucker'.<br/>It's Kupak Kurr's favorite self-description—even if he isn't as bad as he'd like to.</p>
<p>He'd better be one though, because 'defiant, grim, queer' isn't just a word play here—it describes how he manages to survive and evolve through the havoc that has become his life.</p>
<p>In a world where different Votan races are forced to cohabit with each other and with humans—even those humans aren't always what they seem to be—for the better and the worse, where the cards have been dealt anew and privileges must be earned again, where friendship can't be taken for granted and where love and lust have many different faces, Kupak learns that the mighty can fall and that sometimes, you have to lose everything to find yourself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. INTRODUCTION

**Author's Note:**

> **Crossover** : Defiance / Queer as Folk / Grimm
> 
> **Main characters** : Kupak Kurr, Ethan Gold, Nick Burkhardt  
>  **Supporting characters** : Alak Tarr, Justin Taylor, Rosalee Calvert, other minor characters from all 3 canons, original male characters
> 
> **Pairings** : Ethan/Kupak, Ethan/Justin, Nick/Kupak, Kupak/OMC, mentions of present Brian/Justin and past Nick/Juliette
> 
> **Rating** : variable from chapter to chapter, from Teen to Explicit
> 
> **Location/Time line** : Pittsburgh as in QAF canon, transposed in 2015
> 
> **Warnings** : Violence, specism (here racism towards aliens), sexism, homophobia, illegal activities, male slash, sex (mostly consensual, though prostitution and dubcon are also occasionally mentioned or featured), substance abuse, fictive polical and social issues reflecting reality, AU, OOC
> 
> **Possible spoilers** : QAF S1+S2 / Grimm S1 to S4 (+ new location S5E3) / Defiance S1 (but totally AU), particularly S1E11 "Past is Prologue"
> 
> **Disclaimer** : I don't own QAF, nor Grimm, nor Defiance, nor any of their characters; I make no profit from this story—I just get my rocks off
> 
> * * *
> 
> #####  _Author's note:_
> 
> _Throwing 3 different verses together is always a biatch, especially when one of them—the one I want to adapt the most, of course—has already an extensive canonical background story full of events dated from millennia before on different planets/solar systems to the here and now, originally including a raging world war leading to global destruction supposed to seriously get toned down to a blip on a radar screen, featuring about 5-7 different alien species and their fancy cultures before and after exodus/arrival on earth, and don't even start me on the names. I've done the best to deliver a new detailed background story (see ch.2) that makes sense as such and for this fic, because I got carried away, because I don't want to explain stuff later, and because I need precision, that's me. But trying to keep it all together and constant might lead to lapses in logic, style, and continuity. Please don't bear with it, and correct me if you're outraged or surprised by some total plot hole or continuity gap or smoothing aberration that doesn't seem to be explicitly wanted, or some English horrors (not my 1st language folks), if I can correct them without having the whole card castle crumble down I will. Also applies to missing warnings._
> 
> * * *

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short description of this multiverse QAF - Grimm - Defiance, its settings and differences from canon.

### CROSSOVER AU SETTINGS

#### Queer as Folk: near to canon

The QAF universe and its protagonists follow canon until the beginning of S2, only transposed a few years later to 2015 (political issues in the series reflecting real precise events are not addressed in the plot here, synchronicity is irrelevant). It's also the universe hosting this story, i.e. Pittsburgh. Ethan hasn't met Justin yet, and is still playing in the streets undiscovered by anyone.

  


#### Grimm: near to canon but a little AU, with pre-story plot differences and based in new location

The Grimm universe and its protagonists, including Wesen and Grimms being a secret to the general public, have been integrated almost as in canon at the end of S4, but relocated to Pittsburgh instead of Portland. Nick has already moved out to his new secret loft since his old home, filled with traumatic memories, has also become a security liability; only Trubel knows about the new place.

Otherwise, clear discrepancies with canon:  
\- the whole Wesen revolution never happens, the Black Claw being only a local group of Wesen anarchists, not a world wide movement.  
\- the secret organization Hadrian's Wall incl. Chavez & Co never existed, the government doesn't know about Wesen except those who are themselves.  
\- Hexenbiest!Juliette, missed by Trubel's arrows, has fled with the royals in the helicopter and agreed to remain in Europe as Diana's "nanny".  
\- Trubel, still around since there's no such secret organization as HW, stays occasionally at Nick's when she's not roaming around being a Grimm.  
\- Adelind never got pregnant from Nick while they slept together as she faked Juliette's appearance, she met Meisner again per chance after losing her "inner beast" and giving in to their previous attraction they ended up as lovers living in Europe, working with the Resistance and plotting to get Diana back.

Crossover-related non-canonical fun fact: Nick's task as a Grimm and the interaction of Wesen with him and the public has been complicated by the arrival of the Votan species on Earth in 1990, a situation unique for this last generation of Grimms, that old books obviously couldn't foresee.

  


#### Defiance: characters near to canon but settings strongly AU, overtaken canonical plot elements transposed to different timeline and location

The Defiance universe, its protagonists and the basic concept of the various Votan races fleeing the destruction of their solar system in their arks and journeying towards their target planet Earth has been kept here, but with huge differences from canon.

From the whole Votan fleet only one ark made it to Earth, all others ships were missing as the Votans woke up from hibernation once arrived near Earth. Nobody could explain what happened nor at which moment of their millennia long journey. The terraforming vessel Kaziri has never existed, and upon arrival, no space station has ever been infiltrated. One single ark representing less of a threat, the humans were readier to negotiate, and the Votans, seeing the planet was unexpectedly inhabited by billions of creatures evolved enough to defend themselves with nuclear weapons, were also unwilling to risk a conflict in spite of their far further advanced weapon technology—hence there has never been a war nor global destruction through terraforming. The negotiations until the Votans were allowed to land were only a matter of months after the initial panic moments among humans, once latter had realized there was no pending invasion.

The alien population has somehow integrated Terran society once the Votans were accepted as refugees and had landed the ark modules, allowed to spread in the U.S. in various locations and surroundings depending on Votan race and cultural preferences, under the protection and guidance of TEVCO, the Terran-Votan Council.

The ark arrived in the Earth's atmosphere in 1990 instead of the canonical year 2013, and for synchronicity with this fic's timeline and location, the protagonists of the series/this story live in 2015 not in 2048; also, their Terran home town isn't St-Louis but Pittsburgh.

Kupak Kurr and his best buddy Alak Tarr, both in their early 20's, are part of the first generation of Votans born on Earth. The Tarr and Kurr families, among other Castithans, live in a quarter of Pittsburgh called Permanence (in regard to the Votans' wish for a permanent home—and as a wink to canon title "Defiance"), a multicultural community similar to the town of Defiance in size and population but of less post-apocalyptic derelict appearance since part of 2015's Pittsburgh (being actually QAF's 2002's fictive Pitts) also composed of humans, Castithans, Irathients, and very few Indogene, Liberata and Sensoth. As in canon, Kupak's father is the quarter's Castithan religious leader, and Alak's parents Datak and Stahma are trying to pull the threads in the community both openly and behind the scenes in the same way they did in canon, often in a grey legal zone and sometimes beyond since Datak pretty much leads the Votan mob in Permanence and has links to the underworld in other cities; his crew, beside illicit activities, is aiming at driving humans away from Permanence to make room for more Castithans, and the couple often tries to slow down efforts towards multiculturalism unless they're profitable for the Castithan cause. They're mainly opposed by otherwise Votan-friendly local night club owner slash community center board president Amanda Rosewater, helped by her lover TEVCO Deputy and War Veteran Joshua Nolan and their supporters.

**If you want extended info on the Defiance AU, see chapter 2 "A detailed Votan/Terran history - Version 'Ark:1, War:0'", otherwise skip it.**


	2. A detailed Votan/Terran history - Version 'Ark:1, War:0'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Defiance AU scenario where only 1 ark reached the Earth, and no global war nor terraformer-originated worldwide destruction ever happened, allowing the Votans to integrate the human U.S. society of the ending 20th century with no major catastrophes, only the expectable issues due to cultural differences and immigration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _This chapter was specifically written for the story "Defiant, Grim, Queer - A Ráthi Núve Yénkitso", but it might also apply to future stories using similar Defiance AU settings, and be referenced from there._

### I. THE ARRIVAL

The arks conveying Castithans, Irathients, Indogene, Liberata, Sensoths and Gulanees—as well as technology for terraforming, restarting their civilization and ensure military defense—were many as they fled the menaced Votanis system, but only one single ark made it to Earth, all others had disappeared without leaving any trace as the Votans on board woke up from their very long stasis once arrived in the atmosphere of their target planet. They were also the first Votan ship to reach the Earth—avoiding Terran satellites and space stations on their way—no terraforming vessel had been constructed to send ahead of the fleet, hence the Votans had no recent information on the planet including the fact that it was inhabited.

The rest of the fleet was undetectable, there had been no record nor distress message about any attack, galactic incident or change of course, nothing that could explain the absence of the whole group of Votan ships. There was a thin possibility that other arks were still somewhere in space, and that they would, at some point, reach the Earth to join the first pioneers, though as far as the scanners could reach, and this was quite far in the galaxy, nothing was detectable, which meant that any potential reunion would happen only centuries later, if ever. All the survivors knew was that during their millennia long journey, thousands of Votans that already represented but a tiny fraction of the population of the Votanis system, while billions had been left behind in the exodus, had just... vanished. Sadly, the arks the Gulanees had boarded were among the lost ships, making the energy beings an extinct species. On the other hand, luckily for the last Votans and everyone else in every galaxy, something that had secretly been smuggled on a few of the lost arks was now, along with those who knew about it since they were responsible, very probably extinct as well: the last of the terrifying Volge.

Earth being inhabited practically all over and featuring a relatively stable and complex ecosystem, it was out of question to use terraformers or the terraspheres to introduce new species of flora and fauna without risking unforeseen and potentially catastrophic consequences, leaving the survivors with no acceptable means to modify even a part of the new world to suit their needs as they had planned, nor were there enough resources on one ark to recreate a fraction of the development and quality of their civilization.

As the single Votan ark reached the Earth's atmosphere and arrived over the USA in 1990, there were a few incidents due to the fear of an alien invasion, subsequent human pro- and anti- acceptance movements, as well as skirmishes with the initial alien delegation on Earth. Though after the first general waves of panic and a few exchanges of information and explanations came the realization that the aliens weren't obviously planning to invade the planet, nor really in a position to show hostility without immediate tactical or even nuclear response, and that they were just as they pretended merely in dire need for a home planet, the Earth being the only suitable option since the ark's diminished resources wouldn't allow it to travel to another compatible planet light years away. Official negotiations began, while the public and the media took an equally active part in discussing the situation.

The normal human distrust towards anything new or potentially dangerous topped by widespread specism were balanced by an increasing scientific interest and the usual greed for the amazing new alien technology and the Indogene knowledge that could bring so many blessings to all.

Playing a crucial role in making the human population feel some empathy towards the newcomers was also the reason of their arrival: the destruction of the complete Votanis system ("unfathomable, what a horror vision...") and the painful exodus that had forced the Votans to leave behind their whole civilization and also billions of their brethren ("how terribly tragic!") for an uncertain journey of a few millennia ("thousands of years on a spaceship?") in a hibernating state ("is it like... coma?"), followed by whatever terrible fate caused the disappearance and probable destruction of the whole fleet but one ark ("incredible, they really never get a break"), to finally land on their target new home planet that wasn't remotely what they had expected, left without the means to adapt it and rebuild their civilization ("bummer..."), reduced to an infinitesimal fraction of their people after millennia of civilization where they had resisted two fierce predator races, colonized other planets and spread in the whole Votanis system ("while we just... landed on our moon, roughly 4000 years after inventing the wheel"). It was hard not to feel appalled by what the alien refugees had gone through, and not to want to be a positive influence in their immediate fate. Since they didn't really seem to pose a threat, of course. 

So eventually, after almost a year of official negotiations and deliberations taking the public opinion into account, the Votans had been accepted as refugees and granted a special U.S. citizenship allowing them free movement to wherever as long as inside the USA, since besides the fact that the ark had appeared in this airspace, the North-American continent with its big multicultural metropolitan areas, huge empty land strips, relatively stable and satisfying economic and political situations as well as general modern infrastructure was the best choice to accommodate the thousands of newcomers. Paranoid conspiracy theory freaks argued it was also to keep them all in one country, where they could be easily monitored and if worst came to worst, annihilated—but who believes those people who pretend that governments had known for years about reptilian aliens in our midst, or that our own national security agencies spy on us?

The Votans were then dispatched to their future home locations in accord with TEVCO, the newly created Terran-Votan Council, composed of members of different human countries and all Votan races, whose mission was to deal with expected issues like management of alien technology, geographic repartition, financing of living costs until integration was sufficient for the Votans to become at least partially economically independent of state help, political interventions of international scale and local disputes, reciprocal fear, latent and open specism, social adaptation problems, and many more unexpected ones.

One of the main aims of TEVCO was to achieve a transition as smooth as possible, and to avoid alienating—no pun intended... seriously—the human population; the council had to fight two fractions proposing solutions which would be counterproductive to Votan integration including the acceptance by the people of earth: radical clusters in the government who intended to create enclosed alien camps, even species specific ones, and pro-Votan progressists who didn't mind elbowing their protegees to a place in the sun, even at the detriment of local residents (i.e. relocation of whole townships' inhabitants). Deplorable measures still applied by some regimes and nations, sad evidence that history repeats itself—what TEVCO intended to prove wrong. While the camps were an unethical unacceptable abomination, throwing people out of their homes wasn't any better, and both were bound to create resentment and foment rebellion. TEVCO came up with an alternate plan of action: in an initial phase, to ensure the protection of the newcomers and allow them to adapt at their pace, openly accessible but TEVCO guarded rural towns and urban districts would be created instead of vacated, and immediate efforts would be made towards integration instead of segregation, so that in a near future, the Votans could start to mingle with their human hosts and find their righteous place in this new world.

The meanwhile separated ark modules had been landed in a top secret isolated and well guarded desert area belonging to the U.S. government and also controlled by TEVCO and NASA, allowing human scientists to study them with the help of Indogene technicians. All the Votans could transport with them as they disembarked the modules under strict human surveillance were smaller items of minor technology and medical tools if they could explain, demonstrate and justify them, and cultural or personal belongings, not that they had many since they could only take three objects each from home on the arks; anything bigger or more complex being so extremely advanced already compared to human science that TEVCO ordered they be left in the ark for safe keeping until decisions had been taken about how to handle each one of them individually. Of course, smart Votans managed to smuggle out some hand weapons like charge blades and other small implements.

  


### II. CULTURE RELATED ARRANGEMENTS AND LIFESTYLES ON THE NEW PLANET

  


#### Sensoth and Liberata

The most strikingly alien looking races like the Sensoths and Liberata were helped in building settlements in isolated land strips akin to reservations well outside human civilization where they could cohabit among themselves away from human townships, living in almost total autarchy from farming or other nature bound trades, and otherwise receiving support from the state where necessary. This solution had been strongly recommended by TEVCO since due to their hairy practically animal appearance, integration in the human population would be a lost cause before at least a few decades after the first alien contact, the Terrans being more likely to accept Castithans, Indogene and Irathients first, then eventually them once the novelty and the first specist waves were over. Rangers with TEVCO licenses patrolled in a distance around those "alien islands" stopping intruders like haters, fanatic fans, plain curious tourists or the press from approaching the villages, and also occasionally escorting the gentle and friendly but beastly looking Votans wanting to join or leave urban zones to avoid clashes with the rural, often less tolerant human population on the way there. Some individuals had decided to live in bigger cities among other Votans and humans, though many joined or returned to the reserves after their lives had been threatened a few times, and those who stayed in urban multicultural quarters could only afford to do so by bonding with influential Castithans or strong Irathient groups.

  


#### Castithans

The thousands of practically human looking Castithans, having the least problems blending in, decided in majority to integrate larger urban zones, first in smaller species-centric communities similar to Chinatowns or other comparable ethnic arrangements, where they could simultaneously join the human society while still keeping a little separate and free to follow their customs, while after about a decade, some took a jump of faith to move into more recent mixed quarters inhabited by different Votan races and progressive alien-friendly humans. This lifestyle was increasingly popular among trendy humans, and also offered the participating Votans more chances to integrate, which was strongly encouraged by the government and manifested through access to more and higher subventions, while infrastructural help for single-species zones, after the initial phase, tended to diminish to discourage the building of ghettos. Mixed quarters, also, attracted less ill-will from the anti-Votan movements and extremists who weren't past harming the unwanted aliens though not at the cost of human lives; the necessity for TEVCO and police patrols around the exclusive Votan zones of the beginnings and the still actual ones had blown security budgets through the roof, while mixed quarters being less of a target for specist violence generated less security costs.

The urban living Castithan men—sexist traditions oblige—of the Shanje and Valáne Liro mostly agreed to work in research facilities and industry when eagerly asked for because of the Castithan superior intelligence, knowledge and skills, not to mention their readiness to gain back their accustomed social and economical status, as long as they were given the feeling they would "consult" or "offer their services" and not be subjected to endure human hierarchy. Others, especially the Emine from the merchant caste, excelled in commercial ventures due to their keen sense of business and manipulation and made good money rapidly. While the Rizi soldiers often found their place in security jobs and were also appreciated as efficient bodyguards for both humans and Castithans—when latter hadn't preferred Sensoth—the Yuke from the lower working castes mostly tried to find employment with higher status Castithans, since even for them working under humans was degrading, at least for the Darbo- and Casti born generations. Individuals of all Liros could also, at the image of their human counterparts, be found involved in some degree with the Castithan mob, active in a wide range of illicit activities.

The socialites among the still ruling Shanje Liro, beside boosting their careers through their skills, knew how to be just bright and exotic enough to attract the right kind of attention from humans of the social and financial elite, and when to tune down the alien component when necessary so they could fit nicely into the circles of aristocrats, stars, industry barons and other rich hipsters. Those circles were also the only ones where respectable Castithan women could be seen without upsetting the traditional order too much, first exclusively in the company of their Castithan husband, but after a few years also as widows or earth-born still single young ladies prospecting for a rich human fiance; however, women of lower Liros were still expected to stay at home and not be seen in public more than necessary.

Impoverished low-caste Castithans of both genders, like Yuke who really couldn't find their place in the new society or the small fraction of the Thawandayo that had somehow tricked their way into the ark, landed often on the lowest echelon of urban society where to survive, unless they were willing to be treated as were human immigrant working poor but with increased specism, they resorted to crime—mostly for the Castithan mob—or prostitution. Latter with quite a success since their usually beautiful slender pale features were very appreciated by many humans; especially young males of the earth-born generation were extremely popular among some gay men into androgynous types. In any case, the criminally active ones were very careful to avoid getting caught, because the mob had not much understanding for failure, no pardon for rats, and mostly because landing in jail, at least unless their residential cities had been forced by TEVCO to create separate wings for Castithans once enough violent incidents had ended in the media to cause uproars in the Votan neighborhoods, was a highway to hell. Being rare in mixed human-alien prisons, those solitary individuals never lasted a week away from the protection their mob had offered them outside, and abused freely by the far more numerous human prisoners they always had to be hospitalized in the first days already due to their alarming physical state and frequent suicide attempts; in the worst cases of the first years after the landing, some had even been lynched, leading to the new TEVCO penitentiary regulations that were regrettably applied far too slowly due to budget cuts in the prison system.

  


#### Indogene

The fewer, but technologically far further advanced Indogene also preferred urban environments to the awful Terran countryside, and they had no problem living individually isolated in metropolitan areas, not gregarious at all by nature, nor in the least concerned about if and how humans, a clearly inferior primitive race, accepted them and their slight almost reptilian features. They usually chose the most high-tech and secure lodgings they were offered, and improved them to their personal, far higher standards. Celebrated as the smartest, absolute alien elite—to the accustomed indignation of the Castithans even back home—the Indogene of both genders, not handicapped by obsolete segregative sexist traditions, could take their pick from the "best" scientific and technical research jobs since both government and industry kept begging for the chance to employ them far more urgently as they asked the Castithans, offering them unbelievable salaries and privileges. The primitive work in hopelessly archaic surroundings under the beaming fawning eyes of admirative though often fearful intellect challenged humans was a capital waste of their capacities and incredibly insignificant at best, but next to the financial advantages allowing them the best standard of living among all the Votans (and the bulk of the humans too), it also gave the Indogene access to facilities and information that could be very useful for many reasons and purposes, even if not immediately...

The Indogene medical doctors had the necessary knowledge to work in special hospitals catering to Votan patients only, and they also taught a new breed of human physicians in "votanology", instructing them about the various alien physiologies so they could help the Indogene in the medical care of the numerous refugees. The hierarchy was clear, since no conscious Votan would accept to be treated by a human only: the Indogene treated and decided, and the votanologists assisted, practically as nurses. Some others went to work in human hospitals to "enhance human medical care with their advanced skills and technology", although this was rather a guise to learn more than they already knew about human physiology and diseases on a practical base—a knowledge that could be helpful at any time. Castithans of the higher Liros had usually private Indogene practitioners looking after their family, near friends, and worthy employees, and they provided "their" doctors with the according facilities and salaries. Rare Indogene doctors who didn't mind getting their hands dirty opened dispensaries in Votan- and later mixed quarters, catering to all species including humans, and while the fees weren't very high since their patients belonged to average and lower social status, they were often completed with some payment in kind, favors and nice free living quarters. Those Indogene were usually motivated by more than just pure altruism to live this way: working without direct human supervision far from official structures in a colorful mixed and often chaotic environment was handy to escape most of the scrutiny of government agencies, and left enough room for whatever private agendas they had.

   


#### Irathients

As to the Irathients, who also came in thousands, they kept living in tribes and clans as was their fashion, and were mostly found scattered in the countryside in halfway legal and mostly nomadic settlements resembling both old times native American dwellings and modern traveler trailer camps, and featuring improvised tiny farming plots. The humans weren't always thrilled by their wandering neighbors, and small skirmishes did happen all the time, but ended mostly with the tribes agreeing to respect some local rules, or even help out, and if no consensus could be reached, moving elsewhere. According to the promises of TEVCO mentioning that the Votans had a certain right to live according to their culture, the nomadic clans were not illegal, and open aggression against them, as long as they also respected their human neighbors and avoided private properties, was punished by the law.

The ones who went urban for different reasons, be it to avoid this nomadic lifestyle or because they wanted to integrate the host civilization, had populated special Irathient quarters similar to the Castithans' as they arrived, albeit much smaller since most of their species lived outside cities they were less, but they were the first to abandon this isolated lifestyle. After a decade, they had moved on and usually lived in small groups in cities where they, not unlike human hippies and similar dropout extended families, survived simply squatting empty buildings, housing in poorer human neighborhoods or in the newer multicultural mixed communities. They could be found earning their keep from odd jobs, sale of Irathient art and trinkets, providing natural health care or personal help, teaching Votan culture, occasionally asking for social welfare. Some easygoing Irathients, males and females alike, didn't mind selling their body in the human fashion, but unlike their counterparts the fine and charming Castithan hustlers, the Irathients weren't very sought for by human and even less by Castithan clients, except for occasional kicks and curiosity, due to their unkempt looks and often rough, direct manners. And as in probably every humanoid species, the socially unadapted and less spiritual ones survived committing minor offenses like theft or dealing with illegal goods, though rarely really violent crimes. The Irathients were virtually the only Votans found in mixed human-alien jails because they could easily survive in those surroundings thanks to their fight oriented culture and their tribal habits, every new Irathient inmate was immediately adopted by a united resident tribe—unlike the very isolated Castithan felons unlucky enough to get caught and incarcerated in a city without separate Castithan prison tracts who were the target of immediate violence followed by removal of some sort. This had never happened to the Irathients, strong, feral and united as they were. Other Votans never ended in jail: the Sensoth and Liberata were too peaceful to commit crimes, the Indogene too smart to get caught.

  


### III. THE POST-ARK GENERATION

The Votans themselves didn't create a special expression to describe the children born on Earth, because it was obvious to them that anyone whose birth year was dated post 1990 had never seen the light of Sulos or Vysu, in short, every child, teen and young adult. Then there was the matter of continuity, where the children were first and foremost sons and daughters, descendants of a given line, tribe, family (including Liro for the Castithans), members of a particular species; giving them a special denomination would somehow separate them from the flow of their ancestors, and also be yet another constant reminder of the fact that the exodus from the Votanis system had broken almost every link the Votan refugees had with their whole history. Besides, for the Votanis natives, being earth-born bore a kind of negative connotation, like a taint, even if nobody ever dared to say it aloud.

But beside governmental agencies and the census bureau who decided to mark the non-human citizens from day one as "type I" and later "type II" for official reasons, the mainstream of the human population found it somehow important to emphasize the difference between the Votans who came with the ark—the old ones clinging to their weird traditions, culture, thus couldn't help being different—and the post-ark generation, the ones that could be motivated since childhood to adapt, who had grown up in contact with the human civilization, spoke English, and were supposed to know how to behave like U.S. citizens.

While many conservative, antagonistic, older or less educated people didn't even bother to learn anything about the refugees, calling them all "the aliens" independently of their species, age, status or degree of adaptation to local customs, and educated smarter adults used the complete appropriate wording to denominate and differentiate them, the more flexible hype generation coined a few terms to designate earth-born Votans: in the U.S., UK, other anglophile countries and most of Europe, they were mostly called "newGen Votans"—or respectively "newGen-Casti", "newGen-Indo", "newGen-Irath" for the three widespread species, ignoring the Sensoth and Liberata who were mostly called "the hairy ones" by everyone. In eastern regions like Japan, China and Southeast Asian countries—and among manga fans—people tended to use the more creative Japanese term "V-Post" for Votan post-ark, pronounced _[bui-possuto]_ , adding a number from 1 to 5 according to the position in the Latin alphabet of the species' original name, hence a "V-Post 1" meant a Castithan, etc. The concerned party, i.e. those alluded to, only referred to themselves in such terms in human company when they wanted to sound hip, or more often in an ironical way, particularly as a joke among young Votan peers.

Every Votan species had its own culture, set of rules and values developed during millennia of their existence on their home planets, and they brought them along as they landed on Earth. The initial generation that had been part of the exodus had kept those alive and taught them to their children, considering it was part of their identity. But as the first earth-born Votans, about two decades later, had reached their teens and twenties, they had partially adapted to life in the U.S. in the first years of the 21st century, and were less interested in following their traditional customs as strictly as their elders—all the more when they lived in mixed surroundings, maybe less when isolated under their own people.

While being irrelevant for Sensoth and Liberata, as the bulk of them had their own settlements far from human civilization, and also for Indogenes, who didn't care much about breeding at this point, and the few who did had their offspring well under control, raising them to be logical, well-mannered, focused on studying and following their parents' steps, it was quite an issue among Castithans, and to a lesser level, urban living Irathients, the ones dwelling in camp tribes not being very affected since they kept to themselves.

The young urban Irathients often succumbed to the ambient materialism, or the addiction to virtuality and social networks, or the search for easy distractions including substance abuse, while at the same time, unlike their elders, they tended to overlook or worse, imitate the despicable carefree attitude the human civilization had towards their planet and ecosystem. Those were the main source of conflict with the pioneer generation, and the result was an increasing number of young Irathients forming their own tribes and leaving their family, very much like their rebellious human counterparts. Sometimes, when reformed and back to a more sensible attitude after having sown their wild oats, the new youth tribes could try to gain acknowledgement from the old ones and settle back in their previous surroundings as a new unit; also, individuals who had genuinely returned to "decent" behavior and opinions were taken back in their birth tribe and family after they had proven themselves worthy.

The young Castithans had other issues, like the strict social code of conduct their parents forced on them, the omnipresent Liro system and the specist attitude towards Irathients and humans (unless, hypocritically, it guaranteed them privileges or allowed them to feel superior), and generally the whole religious and ancestor-oriented ceremonial humdrum. Fearing the consequences they often didn't rebel openly, hiding to commit their misdeeds, meeting foreign species friends outside their homes, finding subtle ways to avoid bothersome tasks. If they were caught, depending on the extent of their fault and of course their gender and status, they often had to deal with general disapproval, shaming procedures—not the racks though, that had been strictly prohibited under U.S. law, and would have been reserved for adults—and pathetic parental drama including increased scrutiny of their every move. Unpardonable behavior could even lead to banishment, a terrible fate for a Castithan. Sometimes, when the pressure was too high or the punishments too absurd or harsh to take, they left home like young humans do, landing on the streets to face the usual consequences runaway kids do, but added to an exclusion from Castithan society making a return home impossible.

In the multicultural quarters, where children of different backgrounds and species grew up used each other, the 2010's brought new teen groups and twen tribes composed of young humans, Irathients and Castithans. Other Votans like urban Sensoth and Liberata were mostly childless, as were the rare Indogene living in those mixed neighborhoods. Those youths clusters were rather fun and friendship oriented in the mixed quarters, quite harmless save for the occasional pranks, and well-tolerated by progressive human parents, considered as part of a debatable phase though possibly conscience-broadening like a rite of passage by their Irathient counterparts, and despised as an unavoidable nuisance by the Castithan elders, less akin to appreciate the influence the other kids had on their strictly educated children.

However, the same phenomenon had simultaneously appeared outside of the Votan inhabited zones, where those inter-species alliances of youths often all past their teens were rather composed of emotionally unstable runaways of human and Castithan background rallying rebellious Irathient tribes, and where the general motivation to join such a gang and the psychological baggage of the group members were triggers for readiness to cause trouble and get physical. The tolerance brought towards them was very dependent on the degree of gravity and involved violence of the acts they committed. Merely annoying and prone to stupid drunken behavior, mild fights with random bystanders, petty theft, pointless vandalism and mild substance abuse for the majority of them, they were much bolder and unpredictable when harder drugs were involved, especially Adreno, a physical and mental enhancement narcotic very popular with young Votan thugs and their human friends, originally synthesized in an army research center around 2000, but leaked by an Indogene scientist to the Castithan mob, who had meanwhile modified its fabrication methods and held the monopoly of its street sale, employing Votans dealers exclusively.

Interesting fact concerning recently created multicultural youth tribes: very few of them, maybe one or two in every megalopolis, were of a quite different nature, though the trouble-making element was a constant. Completely avoiding the debasing abuse of alcohol and narcotics together with childishness, aimless rebellion and misdirected impulsive violence, those larger smarter gangs formed an unprecedented elite of young criminals. The cocktail of three different species—added to the multiraciality among the human kids in the gangs—of young, strong, clever and gifted individuals was rather explosive. It amounted to a sum total of combined superior skills brought by all different backgrounds, like mastery of extensive fight techniques, excellent weapon handling coupled with the ability to gain access to various armaments, amazing physical endurance and training to move flawlessly through urban structures, effortless juggling with high level informatics and various sciences, knowledge about all kind of vehicles and general technological prowess, proficiency in many languages and insight into different cultures... All of which, added to a continuous flow of illegally acquired means to pay off helpers if necessary to go underground or provide any goods needed, and the fact that the law and order institutions, aside from those directly related to TEVCO politics or crucial alien immigration problems, were still almost exclusively human with only a few alien headhunters, made them practically impossible to catch, with exception of the occasional weak chain link who had failed and would soon be replaced by a better one. On the rare event where a major arrest had led to the end of one of those groups, it was never before they had already spent a while stealing fortunes, hacking or entering the most secure systems and organizations, and enjoyed the good life—which they usually continued to do once in maximum security jails, having reached hero status among other felons, independently of their species for once.

  


### IV. A, B, C, D, E, F, G... Next time won't you sing with me?

A plethora of U.S. agencies and organizations involved in security, technology and whatever else could be related to the alien issue—CIA, FBI, NSA, ACDA, USA, GSTC, NASA to name only a few—were allowed larger budgets as soon as the initial negotiations had begun so they could include the Votans in their surveillance and strategic fore-planning, and some new national and international agencies dedicated exclusively to the alien presence were created—not counting TEVCO, since Votans were also largely represented and the organization was essentially Votan-friendly with a protective attitude and a distrust for abusive surveillance programs.

A couple of thousand of castaway aliens whose high-tech battle toys were in severely controlled lockup on one side, over 7 billions people in possession of the top of human warfare technology on the other, the advantage seemed clear—however, the scientists who had SEEN the ark from inside were still reeling, all the more since they were conscious they couldn't even begin to fathom what amazing high developed technology had been covering the Votans' previous home planets, and uncertain about what the Indogene scientists might be able to recreate... officially or not. Also, independently of the truthfulness of what the Votans had explained or what they genuinely believed, there was no proof that the missing ark fleet, even if only centuries later, wouldn't suddenly appear in the Earth's orbit, so meanwhile, the best to do was to observe and be prepared to be prepared—si vis pacem, para bellum...


	3. In the beginning there was the Sound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the middle of the agonizing city noise where traffic and building sites steal each other the show, like a breath of fresh air for the soul a few notes emerge shyly, probing, before suddenly raising into a beautiful cascade charming Kupak's ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _It has been a loooong hiatus. I'm so very sorry! But finally, I have a laptop to work with again, my tablet writing hell is over, so let's hope things now will flow faster. And here's chapter 3, the actual beginning of the story. Njoy! ^_^_

 

 

 

> The effect of music is so very much more powerful and penetrating than is that of the other arts, for these others speak only of the shadow, but music of the essence.
> 
> _\- Arthur Schopenhauer -_

 

* * *

 

Only a few thousand years of what they called civilization—not much longer than what his people had spent traveling through the galaxy in hyper-sleep—and barely two centuries of it vaguely industrialized... nonetheless, if otherwise nothing intelligent worth mentioning, in this short time they had invented bedazzling constant noise.

The ever present mind-numbing urban cacophony composed of the archaic stinking fossil fueled traffic including constant hooting, deafening jackhammers, disturbingly frequent sirens of medical services or the Law, and the combined buzz of hundreds of people in the vicinity talking to their phones formed an infernal amalgam of ugly po-tech sounds only avoidable with headphones and a high player loudness level. More noise, admittedly, but at least of one's own choice, and Votan newGen bands were meanwhile the hype these days even among Humans, that's to say they were frigging cool—as if anything else could have been expected, seriously.

Kupak wasn't particularly enjoying this walk through town from Laurenceville back to Permanence, since the traitorous wireless headgear had obviously fallen from the pocket where he had stuck it as he was trying on a jacket in a thrift shop earlier on, leaving his ears naked and open to the unwelcome acoustic intrusion. Still, walking was a tad better than sitting in a bus with all people staring more or less openly—as if they had never seen a Castithan, for fuck's sake, twenty-five years after the Ark's arrival... And walking alone was safe for Votans during daytime as long as they kept on populated main streets; doing it at night or using isolated pathways wasn't very advisable, you never knew when the next bat-wielding or trigger-happy antalien (popular contraction of "anti-alien") jerk would come around the corner.

On the rare occasions when he strolled on his own outside Permanence, away from the community where he had to keep on his toes since every Castithan was watching every other Castithan, he could stop putting his game face on and relax into the music, let his mind flow, and then he often wondered how it would have felt to live in one of the megapolises on Casti... For a start, he wouldn't have been _walking_ through the city, wearing loose little plastic bows perched on his ears to escape jackhammer symphony. Or did the Castithans actually still _walk_ _around?_

How different everything else would have been, he had no clue of whatsoever—as much as the Castithan adults raved about millennia old traditions from home and Votan history, they tended to leave out exact descriptions of their meanwhile long destroyed home, especially when talking to the earth-born generation. Be it because they mourned the unfathomable loss and talking about it opened old wounds again, or because they were so resilient and focused on surviving here and build a new future while being conscious it could only be inferior in quality and radically different to what their past had been that they feared comparisons would be depressing and prejudicial to good adaptation—whatever made them cast a veil on the glory of the Casti and Daribo scapes, Kupak found it sometimes hard to simultaneously follow his elders' path, celebrate his Castithan identity, all the while not really knowing where he came from...

Suddenly, pulling Kupak out of his sullen reverie, a few isolated notes came out of nowhere, followed immediately by an onslaught of acoustic beauty breaking through the background chaos. A melody pure and savage invaded the air, its resonance somewhat reminding of a Castithan ceremonial song... gone completely wild.

How was this ancient human instrument called... it had been featured somewhere along his Terran history lessons, very important in classical traditional Terran music... right, a _violin_. Somewhat coarse, like everything the primitive culture had produced yet, but nonetheless packing in its intensity and the way it caught one's emotions. Also, as far as the young Castithan could judge, the person playing it was really a master of the art.

Intrigued and thrilled, Kupak sped his pace towards the street corner, stood still again trying to locate the source of the music, and once he had found its general direction, he crossed the street, turned into in an alley bordered with trees, and from there already, he could see a few people standing in a semicircle around the place the violin sound came from.

As he had joined them, Kupak could finally see the artist setting free the cascades of vibrant notes, playing his violin like his life depended on it: a young Human male about his age with tousled dark locks and a little goatee, dressed in a somewhat shabby chic fashion and wearing the same type of fingerless gloves the Castithan youth affected himself. Definitely not a homeless guy, more of a struggling artist or maybe a student. His eyes closed, lost in the passion this vivacious piece of music seemed to ignite in him before he passed the spark on to his public, the virtuoso offered an image of such complete abandon while simultaneously showing the total control over his instrument allowing him to deliver with near perfection this complex composition, that for once Kupak was genuinely interested by a Terran other than the few buddies he hung out with back in Permanence.

Classical Terran sound had never particularly caught his attention, it was totally old school and outdated even for young Humans, but this was different, maybe because of the artist himself, maybe because this wild piece was touching him; anyway Kupak was enjoying the moment a lot, and he wished his best friend Alak had been there to share it. Alak actually loved Terran music so much he had a whole collection of it which he played frequently between the Votan songs and local news filling the program of his own radio station, the Permanence located Raider Radio.

Abruptly as it had started the song was over, the violinist opened his eyes and saluted shortly, smiling—maybe a little perfunctorily—in the round, before he attacked a second piece, then another, and then one more. New bystanders had come and gone, usually after adding a few coins or a note to the scattered ones in the violin case, but Kupak was still standing there immobile, under the charm, fascinated as much by the exquisite music as by the entrancing and highly skilled play of its performer. Latter had acknowledged his faithful spectator by a nod after the first song and a few smiles between the following pieces, relishing the fact that his most fervent admirer was a newGen Votan. And a darn gorgeous one to boot.

This last fact hadn't gone unnoticed among the listeners either, and Kupak was subjected to the usual curious or appreciative glances, he could even overhear the whispered "VPost-1", " _kakkoii_ _, ne_ " and the subsequent flurry of smartphones handling emanating from a group of young Asian women. Tourists from outside the U.S. were always giddy when they met "people from outer space" since they never saw any in their home countries.

American citizens from regions devoid of Votans were a different matter, because there the reaction to the Votan presence, a national topic still actual but well past novelty, was rather politic and parted between the pride of being their unique host country and the animosity towards anything foreign or limited to Votans; the candid open admiration manifested by oversea dwellers had ceased a decade ago, at least for adults. The majority of the provincials who had craved the zoo experience while visiting larger cities had done so in the years following the Ark arrival, and meanwhile it was somehow embarrassing, as a U.S. inhabitant, to be caught beaming childishly at a Votan—or worse, taking their picture openly—since they were supposedly equal citizens; foreigners benefited of more leeway as they really never had contact with the alien species otherwise, and were tacitly tolerated like any tourists all over the world taking pictures of natives and other exotic sights.

The street concerto must have gone for nearby an hour as the young man saluted again, this time with more flourish, thanking everyone present for listening and showing their appreciation, as the now nicely filled violin case bore witness of. The people who had stood there last applauded and left quietly, some saying a few kind words before they departed while the musician knelt down and collected his fee from the case with one hand so he could lay down his instrument, looking up and conversing with them while his hands were busy, until finally Kupak and the artist were alone.

"This was amazing! The music was fantastic, like that wild piece you played first, you were just... awesome," the Castithan exclaimed enthusiastically.

"I know, I'm a genius," the violinist answered, shrugging and harboring a self-satisfied smile.

Kupak had to laugh at the immodest remark. This guy was not only gifted with his bow, he was also as arrogant as Kupak himself and his Shanje peers. "Spoken like a true Castithan!" he replied, making his interlocutor chuckle.

"I'm glad you liked it," said the young man finishing to pack his things. "I wouldn't have pegged you for the classical type," he added once he was done.

"Why, do you think I never learned anything about your culture?" wondered Kupak lifting his eyebrows.

"No, it's not what I meant," the artist rushed to answer with placating hands. "I was referring to your... style." And he indicated the whole of Kupak, his gray bean hat topping an unruly mop of long white hair, the ample vest over a lumberjack-style black and white checkered jacket, the worn fingerless gloves and the threadbare dark jeans tucked in funkily laced combat boots.

"Oh, that? OK, you're right, I'm not any kind of classic or traditional," the young Castithan grinned, pleased to have made the impression he intended to.

The musician was ready to go, the closed case at his feet, rubbing his hands to warm his cold fingertips which hadn't been covered by the gloves."Hey, I'm freezing here, my fingers are going to fall off soon," he said, blowing on the stiff limbs and looking at the other young man. "Want to come for a coffee? I think I have made enough to be able to invite you, and still afford to buy food for a few days. There's this café around the corner, they have a decent brew. My name is Ethan, by the way."

"I'm Kupak. Sure, let's have a warm drink, I'm totally frozen too. And I got this, after all I didn't throw anything in the violin case, even I was there longer than those who did," assured the Castithan as they started to walk. But then he suddenly stopped in his tracks, and after a short reflection making him first look thoughtful, then smile, he added "Wait. I know somewhere better than a coffee shop. Somewhere we can drink what we want for free, chill, have a smoke—and you can even show off your skills."

"Show off as in...?" was the inquiring answer of the intrigued musician.

"As in my best friend Alak owns the local indie radio station of Permanence, Raider Radio. We hang out there with our crew a lot. If you play that first piece on air, it will blow the socks off everyone in the whole hood. He will love you. The listeners will love you."

If there were words able to enchant Ethan, this last sentence was. The young man was quite complacent, and the perspective of increasing the number of his fans with a free diffusion by a local radio, however devoid of immediate financial rewards—though he might even get a paid gig this way if the right people heard him—was still very attractive.

So was the thought of more personal surroundings than an anonymous crowded café to continue the conversation with the gorgeous Castithan. Ethan's gaydar, annoyingly, hadn't picked any other vibe than genuine interest for his person and his art from a purely musical and friendly point of view, without any innuendo that the fair skinned youth's romantic preferences might include males, since Kupak's demeanor towards Ethan hadn't been in the least indicating he was into guys. But the musician could play people almost as well as violin strings with his charming ways, so who knew where this could go from there...

"Excellent. Nothing more exciting than a new audience,” Ethan acquiesced with a smile. “And I've never been in Permanence. Actually... That must sound so corny, but you are the first Castithan or even Votan I had a real personal conversation with, I'm ashamed to say."

"Nah, don't worry, not so corny if you don't live in a mixed quarter, or if you don't work in high-tech or something. Most Votan and Human adults don't mingle for no reason outside of the mixed zones, and we guys stick together; we also have our own Votan schools in our hoods, before college there's no need for external institutions. And honestly, I would freak out if people I know for shit stopped me on the street saying they'd like to talk and know me better," Kupak laughed amused, a new spring in his step as he led the way to Permanence.

"I guess you have a point there... It would freak me out too," chuckled Ethan. "Besides, I'm usually too busy practicing to spend much time talking to people I don't already know from school or somewhere music related."

For both of them, the late afternoon had been agreeably stripped of its boredom and daily casualness, and their meeting brought a new energy into a day that had otherwise been quite devoid of anything interesting. So they continued their stroll towards Permanence talking animatedly, anticipating the moment when they would arrive at Raider Radio and meet the others, Kupak proud to exhibit his new discovery and get to know the cool skilled human musician, Ethan excited to visit foreign territory, gain some new fans... and spend some more time with the alluring Castithan.


End file.
